


never knew you were the someone waiting for me

by lightwoods



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 01:45:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13020639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightwoods/pseuds/lightwoods
Summary: Woojin loses a bet against Daehwi and he hates that he has to write his phone number on a bathroom wall. When he receives a message from a random stranger, he doesn't expect the feelings that are attached to it.





	never knew you were the someone waiting for me

**Author's Note:**

> this is unbetaed so I'm sorry for any mistakes!

Woojin should've known better than to make any bets with Daehwi. In his defense, he really thought he had the advantage this time.

With the end of summer vacations, he came back to their shared dorm on the weekend before class started. Daehwi was lying on the couch, phone in hands and a dumb smile on his face. When he heard Woojin entering the room, he immediately smiled as widely as he could, running to hug him and almost making him drop his luggage all over the floor. After a full minute of hugging and screaming "Hyung! You're back!" Daehwi was bouncing back and forth witch excitement on his eyes, so happy to see Woojin that the other just felt a wave of affection towards the younger spread all over his chest.

"Ya! Ok, calm down," he wanted to sound annoyed but the fondness on his voice was certainly making it difficult. "Help me with these stuff,” he gestured towards the bags he’s holding “How are you? How's everything here?"

Daehwi was smaller than Woojin and definitely weaker but he got some of his bags anyway. Woojin thought Daehwi must've been really lonely for the last couple of days because he arrived on their dorm on Friday and has been waiting for Woojin to come back ever since.

Woojin’s question was Daehwi's cue to start babbling about everything. He talked about his vacations, about how he's spent some time in LA and how he had missed his friends there.

Woojin was just listening attentively, throwing a "Really? That's so cool" here and there just to make the conversation flow. Then Daehwi started talking about the two days he spent alone at campus and he mentioned Jinyoung, a guy from his year that he has had a crush on since forever.

"He asked for my number," he said, dumb smile on his face.

"Really?" Woojin was genuinely shocked because Jinyoung didn't seem like one to take initiative, if his really quiet personality was anything to go by. "When?"

"I was walking around campus a few days ago, moping because I was lonely and no one's here for me to hang out with"

"And then I entered into the coffee shop near campus and he was the only one there. So I just came by his table and asked if I could sit with him. He looked surprised for a moment but then he agreed and we talked for a while. When I was about to leave, he asked for my number. I tried not to be too obvious about how happy I was so I gave him my number and left. He texted me the morning after and we've been kind of talking ever since"

Woojin was happy to hear that, having had enough of Daehwi going around all day saying how cute Jinyoung looked and how he really, really wanted to be friends with him.  


Daehwi was one to talk a lot and to overshare whilst Woojin was more on the listening side. They've known each other for longer than he could remember, being friends ever since Woojin moved to the same city as him. Daehwi was a year younger than him but they've worked well ever since the beginning - Daehwi's family lived right across from Woojin's and as soon as they moved, they came to greet them with food and lot of smiles and small talk. Fast forward to years later and they're at the same university, sharing a dorm. 

"Hyung" he said, a spark on his eyes after ranting for a good 30 minutes "Let's make a bet!"

And Woojin agreed with him. Daehwi never made bets he couldn't win but this time, wanting to see who could eat more slices of pizza, Woojin really thought he was going to win.

Which he didn't.

Somehow, Daehwi managed to fit 6 slices of pizza into that tiny figure of his whilst Woojin was nearly dying by the fifth. Maybe Daehwi starved to death while Woojin wasn't here. Not that Woojin was a great cooker; he wasn't. But he did manage to make some food here and there so the both of them never die of starvation.

"I can't believe you're actually making me do it," Woojin said, disbelief clear in his voice.

"I'm sorry, hyung. You shouldn't have made a bet if you were going to lose." Daehwi didn’t look sorry at all. Woojin wanted to punch him. Playfully.

"Fine, I'll write my phone number on the bathroom stall. Because that's completely normal. God. I hate you."

"I love you," Daehwi replied excitedly back "Welcome back. I hope you have a lovely semester"

“Yeah, sure. It’s definitely off to a great start.”

 

On Monday morning, Woojin finds himself inside one of the stall in the campus' bathroom, black pen in his hand, cursing Daehwi mentally. Before coming, he and Daehwi agreed that the number should be there for 2 weeks then Woojin can go and cross it. He’s nervous but the tries to convice himself nobody will notice. If anything, who's stupid enough to text a random number they found on a bathroom stall?

He starts staring at the wall, analyzing it, looking for a place to write his number as unnoticeable as possible. Considering how many stuff is written there, he starts to actually doubt anyone will even see it.

As his eyes wanders looking for a place to write, he sees a big "I'm cute", written in cursive and delicate letters that catches his attention, mostly because it’s so neatly written in a men’s bathroom. He can’t help but laugh. “If you're that cute why do you even need to right it on a bathroom wall?” he asks himself.

He writes a "are u sure" right below it, just for the sake of it. Then he proceeds to write his number away from the so called cute guy's handwriting not to make it obvious he’s the one who answered it. He writes the number as small as he can, making it almost impossible to read. Daehwi did say he should write the number on the wall and leave it there for 2 weeks but he never mentioned anything about it being nearly unreadable so he thinks he’s safe.

He takes a look at the clock and realizes he’s almost late for the first day of class. He can’t help but think a great semester is definitely on the way.

 

“Let me just go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” Jihoon says as soon as they pass in front of the bathroom's door. They still have 10 minutes before the class starts and and it’ll just take him a minute.

Jihoon enters the very last stall because it’s the only one that’s empty. While in there, he absent mindedly starts reading the things written on the wall . There are a lot of things from song lyrics to people fighting about things too inconvenient for a bathroom. He remembers he himself had written in this same wall before. He searches for the big “I’m cute” he wrote a couple of months ago and when he finds it, he’s surprised to see someone had written something below it.

He comes closer since the letters are so small he can hardly make anything out of it. With a black pen and a rushed handwriting he reads “are u sure?”.

“Of course I’m sure,” he answers quite loudly and immediately regrets it because there are people in the bathroom and now he probably just looks weird talking to himself.

Part of him is angry because how dare some random guy doubt the utmost truth about his 100% certified cuteness? He wants to reply. But he hadn’t brought any pen with so he goes to grab a pen on his backpack.

Jinyoung is by the door, playing with his phone with one hand and holding Jihoon’s backpack with the other. Jihoon opens it and grabs a pen that’s laying on the front pocket. It’s a good thing his bag is always messy - it somehow makes it easier to reach things.

“Aren’t you done?” Jinyoung asks as soon as he realizes Jihoon’s presence, a confused look in his face but the question is asked to Jihoon’s back already disappearing again into the bathroom. He decides to just wait for the other boy.

Jihoon stands in the middle of the stall, thinking about a good reply. While his at it, a really tiny phone number written on the other side of the wall catches his attention. Normally, he wouldn’t spare it a second glance. But he notices it’s written with the exact same pen and the exact same rushed handwriting as the answer to his handwriting.

“So much for description”, Jihoon mumbles.

And without thinking twice, he puts his pen back on his back pocket, grabs his phone and starts typing the stranger’s phone number into his phone. He doesn’t know what he’ll do with it but he can figure that much later. For all he knows, the guy could be the weirdest person on campus. Still, it was definitely someone <>on campus which means the chance of him being a complete psychopath were a little smaller. He wonders if he should text him or if that alone would be a pretty psychopath move of him. The guy seems to have a good sense of humor, though, so Jihoon thinks it wouldn’t hurt.

He pockets his phone again, saving the decision for later, and goes to meet Jinyoung, who remains confused at Jihoon’s antics but decides not to mention it. He really doesn’t want to know.

 

Later that night, Woojin is laying on his bed after a entire day of introductory lectures. He has his phone on his hands, playing a game while a paperwork he intended on starting working on was thrown by his side, long forgotten. He wanted to avoid procrastinating but he was surely doing a terrible job. 

He is in the middle of acing a song on one of the music games he’s been really into these days when a notification fromt pops out of nowhere, distracting him and causing him to press his buttons all wrong, messing up his own record he was about to break.  
“Fuck” he hisses. Since there’s nothing he can do about it, he clicks on the notification to see who the person who just messed his perfect score was and what could be so important for them to do that.

 **hoonie:** i just wanted to let you know that yes i’m absolutely sure i am very cute

Woojin stares at the message, not recognizing the username nor the number. He types a quick reply.

 **chamsae:** what??

The answer comes even faster.

 **hoonie:** you asked me if i was sure im cute. so im answering: yes i’m absolutely positive i am the cutest person in this whole uni

Woojin is about to answer, claiming he didn’t ask anything especially because he doesn’t even know who he is. But then it hits him. He remembers what he did earlier in the morning. He remembers writing a reply for a random message on the wall, just for the sake of it, and also writing his phone number on the exact same wall as Daehwi told him to do. He also remembers hoping no one would notice and after a lot of silent prayers, he forgot about it. But now he remembers. Now that it’s screaming right into his face. He realizes he just wasted time on his millions of prayers, then.

 **chamsae:** oh  
**chamsae:** how do you even know i was the one who wrote that tho

 **hoonie:** well u didnt put much effort in making it less obvious since u used the same pen

Woojin supposes he really didn’t. In his defense, he didn’t think anyone would actually see any of that. Let alone the exact same person he was replying to. He lets his phone lay on his stomach for a second, closing his eyes and contemplating how absolutely awkward the whole situation is. It vibrates seconds after.

 **hoonie:** and also ur handwriting kinda sucks

He barks out a laugh. He finds it so ridiculous that a complete stranger is texting him and insulting him that he can’t help but laugh. He decides the right thing to do is just end the conversation before it gets even stranger.

 **chamsae:** well okay completely self proclaimed cute stranger i am now aware you’re cute. and that my handwriting sucks. thanks for claryifing.  
**chamsae:** anything else u need from me?

He asks just to be polite but the stranger seems to be instered on keeping the conversation going. He doesn’t know how to make it stop without sounding rude. Woojin likes to avoid any human interaction because he’s not good at it. But the other boy seems to be comfortable enough to interact with just anyone.

 **hoonie:** yes one question  
**hoonie:** u think u’re as cute as i am?

Woojin’s immediate reaction is to roll his eyes at his nonsense. But deep down he finds it slightly cute so he rolls with it.

 **chamsae:** yes i’m sure  
**chamsae:** i bet i’m even cuter

He’s not exactly in the position to make any more bets but whatever, right.

 **hoonie:** i doubt that  
**hoonie:** guess we’ll never know

His eyes are beginning to close, his eyelids feeling heavy after an entire day of lectures he’s not yet used to again.

 **chamsae:** guess we won’t  
**chamsae:** good night

He doesn’t know why he wishes the stranger a good night but after doing so, he’s so quick to put his phone aside and letting sleep take the best of him that it doesn’t give him any time to think about it or to realize the reply comes just a minute later, a “good night cutie” now the only notification in his locked phone screen.

In the morning, he sees the message and he tries to ignore the laugh that comes out of his mouth. It’s the second time a random person who got his number through a bathroom wall makes him laugh and he doesn’t like it.

When he gets to class, Daniel is already on his usual desk and there’s Woojin’s one empty by his side. He waves him hello and sits there.

Daniel turns to talk to him, “Hey. Ready for a new semester?”

“Don’t really have a choice,” Woojin replies. Daniel laughs and his whole face wriggles into the happiness expression Woojin is now so used to see in his face.

“It’ll be fine” he says “By the way, dance practice starts today. You coming?”

“Sure.” Woojin replies just in time for the teacher to enter the classroom and begin the lecture. Daniel grins in response, giving him a thumbs up.

Daniel’s the president of the dance club and they've been friends ever since Woojin joined during his first semester. Daniel likes him and Woojin likes him too, likes how easy-going and genuinely nice he is. Apart from that, Daniel always insists on telling Woojin he’s the best dancer out of all the members in the club. Woojin doesn’t agree, but he’s learned not to argue. He’s just glad Daniel likes his dance too because he’s been dancing ever since he was a kid and he really loves it.

 

After other two unnecessarily long lectures, it’s finally lunch time. Woojin spots Daehwi on a table, along with Guanlin, one of his best friends, and other people he doesn’t know. Daehwi signals for him to come over so he does and they both greet him excitedly when he sits.

The lunch times goes smoothly, Guanlin and Daehwi too immersed on their conversation about something that happened in one of their classes earlier that morning. Woojin doesn’t understand so he just pays half attention to it, focused on eating the huge amount of food he’s got himself.

When there’s about 30 minutes before their break time is over, Woojin feels his phone vibrating on his back pocket. He picks it up only to find a message from the stranger he was talking to the day before.

 **hoonie:** why is it that its only the second day of classes and i already feel like i won’t survive the semester  
**hoonie:** all i did so far is listen to boring lectures and i already have a ton of papers to work on

It’s not exactly what Woojin was expecting. In fact, he wasn’t expecting anything at all. Not a message, not ever again. Certainly not a message talking to him like they’ve been friends. He’s not sure what to say.

 **chamsae:** what

Park Woojin, always so eloquent.

 **hoonie:** i’m talking about my day!!

**chamsae:** are we doing that now?

 **hoonie:** yes  
**hoonie:** please pretend you’re interested

**chamsae:** but i’m not

He doesn’t mean to be rude. And yes, he knows he’s definitely being rude. But everything is just so awkward he might as well be himself, rude or not. If it scares the other one away, then fucking finally. At least he’ll have peace.

 **hoonie:** that’s why i told you to pretend

He laughs. Again. Third time and he’s certainly not counting.

**chamsae:** fine  
**chamsae:** you’re not the only one with this feeling tho i guess we’re all dying

“Woojin hyung? Are you listening?” He hears Guanlin voice calling for him and no, he was not listening.

“No, sorry,” he replies, looking up from his phone and having the decency to look mildly embarrassed for not paying attention at anything they were saying. He puts his phone back on his back pocket. “What is it again?”

“Daehwi and I are going back to class,” Guanlin says and he appreciates Guanlin is the one answering because from the corner of his eye he can see Daehwi half annoyance - if it’s because Woojin was ignoring them or because he doesn’t know who Woojin is talking to, he’s not sure. Probably both. He thinks it’s best that way because it would be embarrassing to explain.

“Ok, so will I,” he sits up and he ruffles Guanlin hair playfully “Be good in class, kids. See you later.” He waves them goodbye and walks to class. He can feel his phone vibrating but he decides to at least get to class first.

 

He’s 15 minutes earlier and there’s only a few people already in class. He sits and picks up his phone again.

He finds himself getting disappointed when he realizes the text he’s received is not from the person he’s expecting but rather from one of his groupchats. The disappointment ceases a little when he realizes it’s from Minhyun. It’s not exactly news Minhyun is his favorite hyung, so he’s not even sorry to admit it.  


The message is an invitation for them to gather later at night to meet after summer vacations. Daniel is quicker than him to tell them he has dance practice and that they should raincheck and Woojin just replies quickly telling them that so does he. He makes a mental note to keep an eye on the groupchat for a possible raincheck.  


When class starts and Woojin still hasn’t received a message from the stranger, he decides to drop his phone at his bag and leave it at that, avoiding any more distractions - he doesn’t exactly have an easy time paying attention to classes so it’s better if he doesn’t have anything else to keep his mind busy when he should be focusing.  


The reply he’s been expecting only comes later at night, during dance practice. He checks his phone as soon as it ends.

 **hoonie:** sorry cutie yes we’re all dying but i’m still not dead just got caught up with some stuff  
**hoonie:** so what do u major on please enlighten me  


Woojin finds it cute that he’s justifying his absence even though he has absolutely no obligation to do so. He replies quickly to him and goes home.

 **chamsae:** what is the cutie for  
**chamsae:** psychology and you

When he gets home, Daehwi is nowhere to be seen so he texts him asking for his whereabouts. He finds a slice of pizza from the weekend on the fridge and he heats it up, too lazy to cook some proper food. He hopes wherever Daehwi is, he’s getting something to eat. He decides not to lean too much on hope so he texts Daehwi telling him to eat before coming home. There’s still no answer from the stranger so Woojin eats and then takes a shower.

When he finishes and he draps himself on his own bed, too tired due to the fact that he’s completely out of shape and his body is no longer used to the intense dance practices, he grabs his phone and find several new messages. Daehwi says he’s over at Guanlin and that he already ate dinner. He replies with a thumbs up. There’s a message from the stranger too.

 **hoonie:** u said u’re cuter than me so i’m taking ur word for it  
**hoonie:** oh nice  
**hoonie:** performing arts

Woojin can’t help but feel a little jealous. Loving dance ever since he was a kid, performing arts was something he has always been interested at. But his interest in human behavior got the best of him. He still doubts his choice sometimes.

 **chamsae:** you are the one who claimed being cute from the start. does that mean i should call you cute too?  
chamsae: cool. do you sing?

The answer now takes no more than a couple of seconds.

 **hoonie:** if you’re down for it please feel free  
**hoonie:** acting

Woojin can’t help but wonder if the stranger has what people call an actor face. Not that it really matters, it’s just a thought that crosses his mind. He wants to keep talking to the boy, finding out new things about him, but he feels his body slowly getting number and he doesn’t have the energy to fight it. He manages to answer before completely falling asleep.

 **chamsae:** fine then  
**chamsae:** goodnight cutie

 

As the day passes, Woojin finds himself talking more and more with the stranger. What began as a couple of messages throughout the day evolved to a conversation that doesn’t seem to have an end. Ever.  


Woojin finds out the stranger’s name is Jihoon. He also finds out he’s the same age as him. As they’ve been talking every day for almost two weeks now, they’ve come to memorize each other schedules to the point they know when the other either has classes, dance practices (for Woojin) or theater activities (for Jihoon). They’ve learned a lot about each other and as completely unbelievable as that sounds, Woojin actually starts to consider Jihoon one of his friends. It feels weird for him being so close to someone he’s never actually seen, especially because it’s someone he can see if the both of them just decide that they want to. But they don’t. They’ve talked about it once, about picking a time and a place and just meeting each other so they can be normal friends instead of this long distance but not really friendship that they’ve got going on but they ended up changing topics and never actually deciding anything.

It’s not that Woojin doesn’t want to meet Jihoon. He does. He’s curious about how he’s like personally compared to how he is when they’re texting. Plus Woojin is naturally curious so every time he passes by anywhere near the theater department, he can’t help but wonder if every single person that walks by him perhaps could be Jihoon. Sometimes he’s texting him as he walks and inevitably everyone who’s holding a phone suddenly turns into a potential Jihoon. It’s somewhat of a stressful situation Woojin could put an end to if he wanted to, but he also finds the mystery kind of nice. And he’s also generally shy of strangers so he’s afraid the proximity that he and Jihoon somehow built through texts will be reduced to nothing as soon as they meet. And, sure, the sooner they meet the faster they can get it over with and build their proximity again face to face. However, Woojin is still not ready and since Jihoon never brought the topic up again, he thinks maybe he also isn’t.

During his one-week and a half of texting Jihoon non-stop, at some point, Daehwi confronts him about it.

It’s Friday and they are sitting by the kitchen’s balcony, both of them focused on having dinner rather than talking. Woojin’s phone is on the couch and so is Daehwi’s, hunger getting the best of them. But then Woojin phone rings, the sound indicating a message just came getting his attention. He stops his dinner to go get his phone.

Daehwi has been meaning to ask him about it for a while now, he just didn’t find a opportunity to do it. Now Woojin abandoning his dinner to interact with people sounds like a perfect one.

“Who are you texting?” Daehwi asks as soon as Woojin sits back on the chair beside him, phone now on his hands. He does his best to sound nonchalant but he knows his curiosity is obvious on his voice.

“None of your business,” he snorts, putting his phone on the balcony with the screen turned down.

“The fuck is not,” Daehwi sounds exasperated “You’ve been attached to your phone for days now. And you don’t ever do that because you barely reply to people. So who the hell are you even texting?”

Woojin hesitates for a second. He could hide it from Daehwi. He wants to because everything just sounds really embarrassing and awkward. Daehwi was the one who put him in this situation in the first place, though, so if there’s anyone who’s not in a position to judge it’s definitely him.

“It’s just a guy,” Woojin begins slowly, trying to find words to make it seem less stupid that he’s been talking to a guy on campus he’s never actually seen.

“Yeah, didn’t see that one coming,” Daehwi interrupts him.

Woojin ignores the irony in his voice, “There’s nothing much to it, really. It’s just a guy from here. We’ve been talking.”

“Do I know him?” Woojin shakes his head. “How did you guys meet?” Daehwi asks, eager for more details. He’s actually slightly happy that Woojin found someone to catch his attention enough for him to talk on his phone endlessly like he’s been doing now.  


Woojin hesitates for a second, “We didn’t.”  


“What do you mean you didn’t?” Daehwi furrows his brows.

“We didn’t meet.” Woojin repeats firmly, no longer looking at Daehwi. “In person.” He completes.

“If you didn’t meet so how do you even know each other?” He asks. He’s waiting for an answer like they’ve met on Tinder or something. It wouldn’t be Daehwi’s ideal way of meeting people but he wouldn’t judge. However, it doesn’t seem like something Woojin would do so he’s just confused.

“He… uhm.. texted me,” Woojin plans on elaborating but the couple of seconds it takes for him to do so are enough for the sign of understanding in Daehwi’s eyes appear.

“Oh God,” he tries to suppress the laugh and something that seems a lot like excitement mixed with concern but Woojin isn’t sure - he fails anyway “Are you saying you’re talking to some random stranger who texted you after seeing your number on the wall?”

“Sort of.” Woojin shrugs.

“Hyung, what if he’s a pervert?” Daehwi actually sounds concerned and Woojin just finds it cute. He considered the possibility, too. He thinks it’s adorable that Daehwi cares. “Who even texts a random number they find in a bathroom?” He reasons.

“He’s not.” Woojin sounds sure of his words.

Daehwi raises an eyebrow, questioningly, “And how do you know that?”

“He told me,” Woojin smiles sheepishly because he knows how stupid he sounds.

“Right, then now we have no doubts!” Daehwi says sarcastically “Seriously, hyung, what do you even know about the guy? Why haven’t you met since he’s from here too?”

Woojins takes a second to ponder and he starts counting on his fingers, “I know his name, his age, his major. And just random information,” Daehwi looks interested at that but he doesn’t interrupt him this time. Woojin realizes it may have sounded wrong when all he meant by other random information was just the entirety of their school schedules and how much academic life makes them want to die. “And I don’t know. We just didn’t have the chance to.”

Daehwi wants to ask more. He wants to know everything about the mysterious boy but it’s Woojin so he knows he’ll talk about it if he wants to. “Ok so just make sure he’s not a weird, pervert stalker and I think you’ll be fine,” Woojin smiles at that “Plus he must really be something if he got you all smiley and talkative on your phone when you barely answer me there because you,” Daehwi makes quotation marks with his fingers “prefer to talk to people face to face. Yeah, whatever, never really believed your bullshit excuse anyway.”

Woojin lets out a loud laugh. One out of the many that had something to do with Jihoon. He’s lost count by now.

He doesn’t have anything to say to that.

 

On Monday, Woojin stops by the bathroom on his way to class, a pen in his hand. The two weeks since he wrote his number on the bathroom wall are now complete so he received Daehwi’s permission to go and erase it. Even if he wanted no one to notice and someone already did, he’s not exactly comfortable with his number being exposed like that.

He enters the on the last stall out of the 5 ones and searches for the number he’s written two weeks ago. He spots the place where he'd written it but he doesn't find it. Instead, where once was his phone number, there's now only a stain of black, as if someone had already scratched it for him. He doesn’t understand why someone would do it but he doesn’t think too much about it.  


At least now he knows his phone number is safe.

Woojin’s sitting on the library, a couple of books opened in front of him as he types away on his laptop, trying to get a paper for next week done. He’s still trying to avoid procrastinating while he still has the strength to do. He knows he’ll give up soon.  


After about an hour and a half of trying his best to focus, and actually succeeding in some of that since he now has 4 and a half pages written out of the 10 he’s supposed to have, he finds himself thinking about Jihoon, wondering if the theater rehearsal he told him he had almost 2 hours earlier had already come to an end. He managed to be casted as the male lead for a play and he was really excited about the first meeting.

The texts between them start to get even more frequent. Woojin thought at some point their topics to talk about would end but as their fourth week of talking daily to each other progresses, Woojin is not so sure anymore. Apart from having memorized each other schedules by hearts by now, Woojin knows a lot about not only Jihoon but also about his friends. Most of the time, he doesn’t name them - he knows there’s a roommate, there’s a rommate’s boyfriend and also Donghan, one of his best friends who’s also majoring on performing arts.

Jihoon talks about the movies they’ve just watched, about the one particular actress Donghan’s in love with and the one particular actor Jihoon wants to be like. They talk about what pizza they just ate and how much Donghan loves eating, just like him.  


Woojin talks about his own friends, too. He talks about Daehwi - his lovely, charming, smart and cute roommate who he’s known for most of his life and who’s like a little brother to him. He talks about the people on his dancing club too - about Daniel, this one friend who is like an older brother to him and who happened to come from the same hometown as him. He mentions Seongwu, who’s another one of his older brother-like friends and whose boyfriend, Minhyun, is also from the same hometown as him and Daniel. In a way, it’s almost like they’re a part of each other lives by now, even if they aren’t sure they are.

Woojin realizes he fogot to put his phone on silence mode when it makes a loud sound as soon as he receives a message. He earns a couple of “Shhh!” from other studens in the library and he lowers his head, whispering an apology he isn’t sure anyone actually hears.

He catches the phone on his hands, puts it on silence mode and unlocks it.

 **hoonie:** hi cute  
**hoonie:** meeting is finally over wow that was exhausting so what are u up to

Yes, the calling each other cute thing is still going on. Woojin started doing it as a joke but now they’re both used to it and that just happens. Jihoon calls him cute more frequently than the other way around because Woojin knows this pet name thing will come back to eat him alive later when they meet in person - if they actually meet in person at some point; Woojin is starting to doubt they ever wil.

 **chamsae:** hey i’m just in the library doing the paperwork i told you about  
**chamsae:** i gave up actually but i’m halfway done and that’s a first so yey

 **hoonie:** ya congrats!! this calls for a celebration  
**hoonie:** since u know when have u ever had half of your paper done days before the due date

The answer was never, but Jihoon already knew that. It was a rhetorical question. Woojin knows Jihoon has something in mind when he mentions a celebration and he has no idea what it is so he takes the bait.

 **chamsae:** what kind of celebration are we talking about here

It takes Jihoon a minute to reply. He starts typing and stops and starts typing again a couple of time before he answers.

 **hoonie:** lets call each other

 **chamsae:** like a phone call? right now?

 **hoonie:** yes  
**hoonie:** for both questions

Woojin ignores the way his hearts races a little. He blames it on nervousness because talking to people on the phone is definitely not on the top of the list of his favorite things. Talking to people he doesn’t know over the phone is actually at the very bottom of it. Even if he Jihoon is no longer a complete stranger.

 **chamsae:** ok sure just let me get out of the library i’ll be home in 10

Woojin answer and quickly shoves his phone into his jacket’s pocket, not wanting to see what Jihoon answers. He closes his books, turns off his laptop and throws them all into his backpack, preparing himself for the walk home. It’s not a long one. He normally does it in 5 minutes but he takes the extra time to calm his beating heart, convicing himself there’s no reason to be nervous. Jihoon will hear his voice. So what? If he’s like that over a phone call, he wonders what will be like when they actually get to meet.

When he arrives in front of his building, he decides not to enter. Daehwi’s probably home and he doesn’t need to see him like this. Woojin’s not ready to give him any more reasons to tease him. He grabs his phone again. It took him 8 minutes to get home. He uses the extra 2 to just stare at the message Jihoon sent before typing out his reply.

 **hoonie:** sure let me know when u get there

He sits at the step by the front door of his building, crossing his legs and putting his bag on the floor next to him.

 **chamsae:** im home

 **hoonie:** ok then ill call u

 **chamsae:** ok

Woojin is holding his phone with both hands and it takes less than 30 seconds for it to ring against his now sweaty palms. Jihoon’s name stares back at him, now in big letters as the caller’s ID instead of the usual small notification for a new message. He’s glad he changed his name from “Cutie” to just “Jihoon” when he found out his name - he’d be ten times more embarrassed now if he hadn’t.

It rings two, three times. He takes a deep breath and picks it up.

He slowly puts the phone against his ears. He says in a low, barely audible voice, “Hey.”

“Hey. Woojinie?” a voice speaks from the other side of the phone and it’s a husky, pleasant sound.

“Yeah, hi,” Woojin knows it’s awkward but he can’t help it. “Hi, Jihoon. You okay?” He attempts to get a conversation started.

He expects an answer but it’s not what he gets, “You do have an accent.”

“What?”

“You said you and your friends were from a different city. I was wondering if you have an accent.” Jihoon pauses “And you do!” he says the last bit excitedly, a high pitched sound coming to Woojin’s ears. It’s cute but he can’t help but feel embarrassed that Jihoon is paying attention at his voice and how it sounds.

“Yeah, I guess,” In another attempt to engage in a conversation, he says “So how was the rehearsal today?”

“It was fine,” Jihoon replies simply.

“No pressure being the main lead?” Woojin asks teasingly.

“A little bit, yeah.” He chuckles and Woojin hates to admit he likes the way it sounds.  


“But it’s fun. We just read the script a couple of times. Guess I’ll have time to feel more pressured later.”

“You’ll do great,” Woojin says reassuringly. He doesn’t know Jihoon, he doesn’t know if he’ll actually do great. But with how much he wants it, he’s sure he can work hard enough to do well.

“Thanks,” Jihoon answers and they fall in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing exactly what to talk about.

In the middle of it, Woojin’s phone rings against his ear and he mutters a “just a second” before taking it out from his ears and taking a look at the screen. It’s a message from Daehwi asking whether he’ll come home for dinner or just grab something to eat by himself. He puts the phone back against his ear.

“Is everything ok?” Jihoon asks.

“Yeah, just a message from my roommate asking if I’ll be home for dinner.”

“Aren’t you home?”

“No. I mean, yes, technically. I’m just outside.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Yeah. So,” Woojin hesitates for a seconds. He wants to hear more of Jihoon’s voice, he wants to get used to it but he’s not good at handling awkward silences so he figures it’s best if they just hang up for today “I guess I’ll just go in now.”

Jihoon takes a few seconds to answer, “Ok,” he pauses “Then we talk later.”

“Yeah, sure. Bye, Jihoon.”

Jihoon replies a weak “Bye, Woojinie.” And then he hangs up.

Woojin also hates to admit he likes the way his name sounds when Jihoon’s the one saying it.

As soon as he walks home, he hear a familiar sound coming off the phone he’s still holding.

 **hoonie:** your accent is cute  
**hoonie:** so if you’re not as cute as u claim at least u got this to back u up

If Daehwi notes the silly smile on Woojin’s for the rest of the night, he doesn’t mention it.

 

They’re all gathered at a party at Daniel’s house. It's a house party and there's not that many people, most of them being members from the dance club. Woojin didn’t intend to come at first but Daehwi insisted that he did.

“Why are you going to a party at Daniel’s house where half the people are from the dance club?”” He asked because he was genuinely curious as to how Daehwi ended up being the one dragging him to a party with most of his friends.

“I’m friends with Daniel hyung too, you know,” Woojin knows but it still doesn’t explain “Jinyoung hyung invited me to go with him. You know how Daniel hyung and Seongwu hyung live together and Jinyoung is friends with Minhyun hyung so he invited him. And he invited me.”

There seemed to be a lot of people involved and Woojin honestly lost track at some point. The only thing he registered was that Jinyoung’s friends with Minhyun which is understandable because they do major on the same thing.

Woojin is not one to easily say no to Daehwi so he just quickly gave in.

There’s a loud music coming out of the speakers and some of the dance club members and other people he doesn’t know are dancing excitedly to whatever music is playing - a remix Woojin doesn’t recognize.

He spots Hyungseob talking to a boy he’s never seen who was smiling excitedly making his high cheekbones even more prominent. He watches as Daniel passes by and invites them to do something. The guy he doesn’t know agrees happily while Hyungseob just shakes his head. It’s when they leave him behind that he sees Woojin and he can’t help the wide grin that spreads across his face as he waves excitedly for him to come over.

“Woojinie, I didn’t think you’d come” he says as he engulfs him into a warm embrace.

Woojin hugs him back, “I wasn’t going to. Daehwi insisted and now I can’t even drink because I feel like I’m babysitting him and his boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Jinyoungie?”

“Yeah. You know him?”

“Yes. He’s my friend’s roommate. The one I was just talking to.”

Woojin hums in response, “Anyway, too bad for you that you’re now stuck with me. Tell me about your summer vacations. It’s been so long since we’ve last talked.”

“Right? It’s hard to talk when you just ditch all of the club extra-officials activities.”

Woojin feels bad about it. Between actual practices, trying to get through the semester and just spending all his time talking to Jihoon, he’s been refusing all the members’ invitation for them to just meet and grab something to eat together. He makes a mental note to stop doing that. 

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” He asks and he spots Daehwi and Jinyoung passing by, laughing and too close to each other “And Daehwi and Jinyoung seem to be doing just fine. So we have a lot of time to catch up.”

They talk for hours. Hyungseob tells him about his new roommate since his old one is spending time overseas and he tells him he finally had the courage to confess to his old crush and that they’re now finally dating each other. Woojin scolds him for not telling him as soon as it happens, earning an apology from the other, but he feels genuinely happy for him. 

They talk about the dance club, about new routines they want to work on together, about college and everything in between. They even go out to the dance floor at some point, dancing with an overly drunk and overly excited Seongwu who’s lucky he’s home because he probably wouldn’t manage to make it back safe if he wasn’t. Woojin remembers he has his boyfriend to look after him, though, and it’s a relief even if Minhyun is nowhere to be seen.

It’s not until hours later, after a lot of talking, a lot of screams and a near passed-out Daniel after so many rounds of a very excited game of beer pong, that Daehwi comes find him.

“Hyung, can you drive us home?” He asks and he has the puppy eyes on that makes Woojin wonder what this is really about.

“I don’t have a car though. We came walking, didn’t we? We can just walk back.”

“Yes. But Minhyun hyung said we can borrow his car and he can drop by tomorrow to get it. Jinyoung’s roommate is too drunk to drive them home right now so they could really use a drive.”

Woojin now understands what it is about. He finds it cute that Daehwi wants to help Jinyoung deal with a drunk roommate. He doesn’t find it cute that he’s dragged into it. He also doesn’t understand why is Minhyun even lending his car but when his eyes find him and he sees the undeniable affection in his eyes while talking to Jinyoung, he gets it.

He turns to Hyungseob to say goodbye, “Duty calls. I thought I was babysitting two but turns out I’m babysitting three.”

Hyungseob laughs at that, “Take care of them. The extra one is my friend too.”

“Right. I will,” Woojin smiles at him and he doesn’t resist when Hyungseob pulls him in for another hug.

“Stop ditching us, okay? I missed you.”

“Will do,” he playfully salutes “I missed you too.”

When he goes grab the keys from Minhyun, he receives a very affectionate hug and another reminder to take care of the kids and to drive safely.  
He nods and goes to the car.

Daehwi and Jinyoung insist that they go on the back seat, probably eager to not take their hands off of each other as they’ve been doing for the past 4 hours. Woojin is left with the driving seat and Jinyoung’s roommate on the passenger’s seat. Not really a helpful company, considering how absurdly drunk he is, but Woojin decides not to complain.  
He puts on his seatbelt and places the key where it’s due. He suddenly thinks about Jihoon and how the both of them had barely talk the whole day. He decides to text him. It’s not like any of the other people in the car are interested in what he’s doing anyway. They all seem too immersed in their own world.

 **chamsae:** you okay?  
**chamsae:** haven’t heard of you all day

He types the two messages quickly and puts the phone back on his pocket. He checks if Jinyoung and Daehwi are all set through the mirror and is about to take off when he hears a phone going off. Twice. At first he thinks it’s his, with a reply from Jihoon. At the corner of his eyes, a phone lighting up gets his attention. He looks to his side, to Jinyoung’s very drunk roommate, and realizes it’s his phone, the screen’s light glowing through the front pocket of his jeans.

Woojin brows furrow. Any person would just dismiss it as a funny coincidence but Woojin doesn’t believe in coincidences. Especially because the timing was too fitting. So he picks his phone from his pocket again and types another message.

 **chamsae:** what have you been up to

He presses “send” and he waits. He thinks his wish to actually meet Jihoon might be getting too out of hand if he’s starting to think everyone else can be him. But there’s a part of his mind that believes it would make sense, considering Jihoon and him talk every day all the time and the one time they don’t it’s when they are at the same place, one of them too drunk to do anything.

The boy’s phone goes off again. Woojin turns to him, looking at his pocket to make sure he isn’t imagining things. He looks up to him and he’s looking out of the window so he just stays there, mind suddenly going blank.

Woojin realizes he’s been staring when the guy waves his hands in front of his face to get his attention. As he moves forward to do so, he ends up a little too close, his face a few inches away from Woojin’s own.

“Oh,” he mutters, slowly, in a clearly very intoxicated voice “You’re cute.”

Woojin doesn’t answer back, his mind barely registering it, too busy trying to figure out if it’s really possible that Jinyoung’s roommate is really the guy he’s been talking to for more than a month now. He thinks about how Jihoon has mentioned his roommate more than once and he thinks about the few time he’s mentioned his roommate’s somewhat of a boyfriend. Suddenly, the things he’s said sound a lot like it’s about Daehwi.

“Are you ok? Do you want me to drive?” The boy cuts his train of thoughts and he asks genuinely, like he’s making any sense, like it’s even possible for him to drive considering the state he is now.

“No, it’s fine,” he manages to let out. The other boy just nod and then he's looking out of the window again, like something particularly amazing is happening out there. Woojin decides he wants to know it for sure because if it’s really him then this must be the universe’s way of telling him is about time they meet, right? So he tries because if he’s wrong, the other boy will be to drunk to remember it anyway “Jihoon?”

He turns to him, a questioning look on his face, “Yes?” Woojin guesses he’s too out of his mind to wonder how does he even know his name. It wouldn’t be that awkward, anyway, considering he is giving them a ride.

Daehwi and Jinyoung are too focused on each other to even realize what’s happening right now. Woojin has nothing to say to the questioning look on Jihoon’s face.  
“I’ll just… uhm… drive you guys home,” he says because that’s the only thing his mind can come up with.

“Okay,” he answer simply and flashes him a smile. It’s all toothy, perfectly shaped and his cheekbones are still doing the same thing as before and it makes Woojin want to stare at it all night.

 

When Woojin wakes up the next morning, there are four unread messages from Jihoon.

 **hoonie:** hi sorry i went to a party and was too drunk to text  
**hoonie:** im okay  
**hoonie:** i mean i do have a massive hungover but i’ll live  
**hoonie:** how are u

Woojin laughs at that. Yes, Jihoon was definitely pretty drunk last night. He doesn’t say it though. But it does sort of confirm what Woojin already knew. After coming home last night, Woojin spent a good while thinking about what he should do now. He decided it was unfair that he knew who Jihoon was and he didn’t - plus it just kind of killed the whole mystery thing.

 **chamsae:** glad you had fun  
**chamsae:** i’m fine

He’s not sure how Jihoon will react but he decides to bring up the inevitable meeting that was bound to happen at some point.

 **chamsae:** jihoon?

 **hoonie:** yes cutie

The timing for the pet name couldn’t be more off but he supposes Jihoon couldn’t have known. He hopes he’s not as easily embarrassed in person as Woojin is because he might regret that with the next words.

 **chamsae:** let’s meet

He expects Jihoon to hesitate, he expects him to take a minute too long to answer. However, the reply comes within seconds.

 **hoonie:** sure  
**hoonie:** when

Woojin is the one who brought the topic up but he’s the one caught off guard. Jihoon is so quick to ask that it’s as if he’s been waiting for this moment. Maybe he has. Woojin is not sure anymore.

 **chamsae:** idk  
**chamsae:** don’t u have class until 4 pm today?

He asks just for the sake of it because he knows he has. He knows too much about Jihoon’s every schedule.

 **hoonie:** yes and so do u

 **chamsae:** exactly so lets meet then

 **hoonie:** u do remember i have a massive hungover right?  
**hoonie:** probably not my best look

 **chamsae:** great excuse for meeting for coffee then

 **hoonie:** u hate coffee

It’s true. Woojin really hates coffee. But he knows Jihoon likes it and the cafeteria on campus does sound like a good place to meet someone you’ve never seen. Not so crowded but crowded enough for him to scream for help if Jihoon turns out to be some sort of psychopath. Even though he thinks they’re way past that point now.

 **chamsae:** i like u

Woojin doesn’t know what makes him say it, especially considering they’re meeting today so he’ll just have to live with that when he’s face to face with Jihoon. But he types and sends it too quickly for him to decide not to. He hopes it brings out one of Jihoon’s pretty smiles he’s seen but he thinks he might be aiming for too much.

He expects Jihoon to tease him but he doesn’t.

 **hoonie:** why now tho  
**hoonie:** i mean why do u suddenly want to meet  
It’s what Woojin expected for Jihoon to ask the first time he mentioned it but he was so quick to agree that Woojin thought he wouldn’t ask anymore.

 **chamsae:** i think i know who you are  
**chamsae:** and its unfair right that i know and you don’t

Jihoon somehow gets even faster at replying and it’s honestly impressive.

 **hoonie:** what???  
**hoonie:** how???  
**hoonie:** since when???

Woojin laughs at the excessive use of question marks.

 **chamsae:** you’ll understand when we meet  
**chamsae** : see you later

Woojin is about to lock his phone to get up and get ready for class but he manages to see Jihoon’s last messages and he can’t help the smile that seems to never leave his face when it’s about Jihoon.

 **hoonie:** ???????????????  
**hoonie:** woojin????

It’s 4:13 pm when Jihoon arrives at the coffee shop. The place is slightly crowded but not enough for it to be difficult to find a table. He sits at one that is not too hidden to the point Woojin can’t find him. He doesn’t know what else to do. Since Woojin says he knows who he is, he guesses all he has to do now is wait. He grabs his phone to see if there’s any text but there’s none. He texts him saying he’s there.

Jihoon stares at the front door, analyzing every person that comes through it and wondering if they could be Woojin. There’s even one guy who enters and starts looking around like he’s looking for someone and Jihoon’s hearts start to beat wildly thinking he might be him. He then looks to a girl at a table in the opposite side of the shop and a smile forms in his face. Jihoon releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

He checks the phone again. Still no message and it’s now 4:17. He knew he’d arrived before Woojin because the theater department is closer than Woojin’s department but he can’t stop the nervousness that is taking over with each passing minute. He stares at his phone

When the bells ring indicating someone else entered the coffee shop, Jihoon’s eyes immediately search for the person. A boy walks in and his face somehow seems familiar. He has tanned skin, small eyes and a sharp jawline.

As he stares at him, he suddenly remembers the night before, when he was too drunk to even process anything. He suddenly remembers how he got home - something he was wondering about but still hadn’t had the chance to ask Jinyoung. He realizes it’s Daehwi’s roommate, the one that drove them home. He also remembers calling him cute and he can feel his face burn as he wishes to hide in embarrassment. He wants to apologize and thank him but considering he’s now waiting for someone, he thinks it’s not the time.

Jihoon is about to turn to the other side of the coffee shop to avoid Daehwi’s roommate but he’s faster and they make eye contact. He hopes he didn’t pay attention to him to the point he just forgot what he looks like. Or that he doesn’t bother talking to drunk people he drives home. There’s recognition in his eyes, though, and even a small smile, and it’s so pretty it catches Jihoon off guard. Now he’s just even more embarrassed but at least he knows his drunk self also has good taste.  
The boy starts walking towards him and Jihoon fights the urge to just grab his phone and pretend to receive an important call telling him he’s needed somewhere else _immediately_.

He arrives by his table before he has the chance to consider actually doing it again one more time. He points at the chair across from Jihoon and he says timidly, almost embarrassedly “Can I sit here?”

And Jihoon knows he should tell him he’s waiting for someone else because it will be so much more embarrassing when Woojin comes and finds him talking to another guy but he can’t bring himself to do so, not when the other boy had been kind enough to drive him and Jinyoung home even if he didn’t have to.

“Sure,” he replies and the boy smiles even bigger than before.

When Jihoon answers him, he can’t help but smile at the boy. The situation is just generally awkward but it’s even better because Jihoon is clueless. There’s a light shade of pink covering both of his cheeks and Woojin can’t help but think this makes him look even cuter. Even if Jihoon was a psychopath or a pervert, the one thing he didn’t lie about was that he was cute. Because he is. He’s possibly the cutest person Woojin has ever seen and it makes it harder for him to even start a conversation now that the other boy is no longer too drunk to remember anything after.

Jihoon beats him to it, “Sorry about last night,” he blurts out and Woojin is surprised he remembers the night beforel “For, you know, being drunk. But thank you for the ride,” he pauses for a second and he looks like he’s done but then he lowers his head a bit and adds “And sorry if I said anything weird.”

Woojin chuckles at the last part, especially at how embarrassed Jihoon is about it.

“Sorry about calling me cute?” Woojin answers and that makes Jihoon look up to him again, now a even darker shade of red coloring his cheekbones “No problem. If anything, you just proved the point I’ve been making for weeks now.” He says and he hopes Jihoon understands what he means because if he doesn’t it’s just going to be even weirder. “I mean, if you still find me cute when you’re sober.”

“I do,” Jihoon replies in a rush then he blushes even harder and he’s visibly confused “Wait, what?”

Woojin doesn’t say anything. He stays silent and let’s Jihoon make sense of what he just said. It takes him a few second until understanding colors his features and he still looks embarrassed but he also looks surprised and Woojin even thinks he looks happy so he supposes it’s a good thing.

“So?” Woojin asks.

“Woojin,” Jihoon says like that’s enough.

It is.

“Yes,” Woojin is done fighting the smile that keeps on threatening to appear so he just smiles. And Jihoon smiles back and they probably look really stupid right now but whatever.

“So that’s how you found out who I am,” Jihoon says “How weird is it that you’re Daehwi’s roommate and that we clearly know people who know each other and we never talked before?”

“Except for last night,” Woojin says teasingly “When you called me cute.”

“Yeah, okay, I get it. I said you’re cute. Point proven,” he tries to sound annoyed but the smile that won’t leave his lips betrays him “Apart from last night. It’s crazy.”

“Yes,” Woojin agrees. They go silence for an entire minute before Woojin attempts to avoid the awkwardness that's about to settle in “Hey, do you want something? You look pretty okay for someone who has a hangover but I can get you a coffee if you want.”

“Sure. I want an Americano, please.”

When Woojin returns, he has two cups on his hands.  
“Is that a smoothie?” Jihoon asks, pointing to the pink drink Woojin’s holding.

“Yes, a Yogurt smoothie. Because I don’t like coffee.”

“But you like me,” Jihoon grins, recalling the message Woojin sent him earlier. Woojin thinks he’s blushing but if he is, Jihoon doesn’t mention it.

“Right, anyway. I’m glad we met in time for your play. It’s this weekend, right?”  
Jihoon’s face lights up even more at the mention and Woojin realizes how passionate about it he is right there.

“Yes. I didn’t even think about it. Now that we know each other, you’ll come, right?” Jihoon takes a sip at his coffee, in an failed attempt to contain his excitement at the thought of Woojin being there to watch the first play where he’s the main lead.

“If I’m invited, yes, of course.”

Jihoon punchs his arm playfully, “Of course you’re invited, idiot. It’s on Saturday, 8 pm at the theater. I see you there, then?”

“Sure,” Woojin replies and he’d be lying if he said the smile he earns from Jihoon doesn’t makes his heart race. He’s sure he’s made him laugh before but actually seeing it is a different thing and Woojin likes it. He really likes it.

Apart from the nervousness, meeting Jihoon is just as easy as everything on their relationship has always been. They talk easily to each other, never running out of subjects to talk about and if anyone told Woojin he’d ever feel this comfortable with someone the first time he saw them, he would never believe it.

 

When the play ends, the theater is immediately filled with loud cheers and applauses reverberate all throughout the place. All the actors are back at the stage, holding hands and bowing towards the audience, expressions both happy and relieved to have ended the performance safely. Woojin can’t take his eyes off of Jihoon. In his character’s costumes, with a radiant smile and a spark in his eye that shines so bright, it seems like he’s the only person in the entire place. His eyes start wandering around and they only stop when they’re staring right at Woojin. 

His smile somehow turns even wider and Woojin smiles back, giving him a thumbs up. In response, Jihoon winks. And then his eyes travel to Daehwi and Jinyoung who are right beside Woojin, screaming Jihoon’s name enthusiastically and receiving a smile and a mouthed “Thank you” that he barely registers.

Even with all the loud noise in the theater, the only sound Woojin can hear is the one of his heart, thumping loudly on his ears and the only image he manages to register is Jihoon's, standing on stage like he owns it. 

The three of them go backstage to congratulate Jihoon. As soon as Woojin sees him up close, glowing, reveling in the moment, he realizes nothing could ever make the view prettier than it already is.

After greeting everyone else backstage, muttering lots of “thank you” and “you did great” and taking pictures, Jihoon goes to find the three of them. Jinyoung and Daehwi both hug him at the same time, praising him endlessly and making him laugh out loud at how excited they are. When they let go, Jihoon turns to Woojin and they never hugged before but Woojin feels like this is the right moment to do so.

With his arms around his waist, squeezing it gently, in a tight hug that lasts a minute too long, he whispers, “You were impressive.”

And Jihoon believes him.

 

“Woojin?”

“Uhm?”

“Give me a pillow.”

Woojis grabs one of the pillows by his side on the couch and throws it at Jihoon who is laying on the floor right in front of him.

“Thank you,” Jihoon grabs the pillow, adjusting it under his head and resuming reading the book he has on his hands.

“No problem.”

It’s a Wednesday night right before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Jinyoung has just gone home and so has Daehwi which left both Jihoon and Woojin without a roommate. They decided not to go home to focus on the things they had to do for school. Even though both of them had a lot of work to catch up on, they chose to gather on Jihoon's apartment to at least make each other company.

They’ve been laying in Jihoon’s living room for about two hours now, each of them focusing on their own assignment, not doing much talking except for the occasional interruptions for a random comment.

This time, Woojin is the one who interrupts.

“Jihoon?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s make dinner.”

“Now? We just ate.” Jihoon answers, pointing to the empty boxes of Chinese food they’ve ordered no more than an hour ago.

“No, for Thanksgiving tomorrow,” Woojin puts the book he’s reading aside, now staring at Jihoon, excitedly.

“My fridge is empty,” Jihoon puts his book aside as well and stares back at Woojin.

“We can go buy things in the morning.”

“Can you even cook?”

“We can make an effort.”

“I can’t cook.”

“Fine, _I_ can make an effort. You can just cheer me on by the side.”

Jihoon throws the pillow Woojin had just given to him at him, hitting him right on the face. He doesn’t know why Woojin is suddenly so excited about cooking but he’s not about to spoil his excitement so he just agrees. Woojin smiles so brightly, his snaggletooth Jihoon has loved ever since he first saw it in the coffee shop on full display, that he’s glad he agreed.

 

On Friday evening, they’re at Jihoon’s kitchen.

Earlier in the morning, on the supermarket, they decided that Thanksgiving dinner was a little too much for them to cook alone so they just settled for a simpler menu. Woojin wanted something less simple but Jihoon insisted they made pasta because it’s easy and he really loves pasta. Woojin agreed.

Jihoon is seated on the chair by the kitchen’s balcony, both of his elbows on the surface while his face rests lazily on his hands.

“Can I trust your cooking skills?” All the ingredients needed for dinner are laid out in front of him but there’s no indication he’s about to help with any of it. Woojin did tell him he could just cheer from the side so he supposes that’s what he’s doing.

“Daehwi is still alive, isn’t he?” Woojin turns his back away from Jihoon, searching in the drawers he’s still not too familiar with for the knife he needs. It doesn’t take long so he’s quickly in front of Jihoon again, picking up the onions he needs from the balcony.

“Do you cook for him?” Jihoon asks and Woojin looks at him and sees his eyebrow raised, like he doubts him, like it’s his first time hearing it.

Woojin nods, “Sometimes. One of us has to, right?” He grabs a plate and the onions and put them in front of Jihoon, extending the knife he’s holding for him “Here, help me with the onions.”  


“I have no idea how to cut them,” Jihoon deadpans but grabs the knife Woojin’s holding anyway.

“It’s easy.” Woojin replies and then he is on the opposite side of the table, right beside Jihoon. He peels the onions quickly and grabs Jihoon’s hand that’s holding the knife. He guides him into cutting the onions at the size he wants them “They should look like this, see?” Woojin looks at Jihoon for confirmation and he sees the way his cheeks are starting to look slightly pinker. He fights the grin that tries to spread across his face at the thought that Jihoon gets embarrassed with as much as a touch of his hands.

Jihoon is quick to recover though and he complains, “My eyes are burning.”

Woojin chuckles and lets go of Jihoon’s hands. He thinks Jihoon breathes easier as soon as he does it but he can’t be sure, “It’s not an easy job, my friend. I’m sure you’ll do great.” He smiles and Jihoon rolls his eyes at him.

After he’s done, Woojin gets Jihoon to do other things for him but he makes sure to stay a couple of feet away, avoiding any more contact than necessary. Jihoon complains at everything he asks him to do, saying that he was supposed to cheer, not to actually get anything done. Woojin laughs because he knows he doesn’t mean it. Especially because as soon as Jihoon gets his things done and Woojin doesn’t ask him for anything else, he has this weird way of offering his help.

“You don’t seem to know what you’re doing, though,” Jihoon says as he stares at the way Woojin messily cut the cheese in tiny pieces, “Are you sure you’ve done this before? I bet even I can do it better than you.”

Woojin pretends to be annoyed at Jihoon’s words, “Fine, you do it then.”

Then Jihoon half-complains that Woojin is making him do all the work but the smile that doesn’t leave his lips tells him he’s enjoying it.

When the foods ready and they sit by the table to eat - because “It’s Thanksgiving, Woojin, we should at least try and pretend we’re normal people having a proper dinner” - Woojin almost forgets it’s only been two weeks since he and Jihoon met in person for the first time because it’s so comfortable and it feels so right that he can barely remember how it was like not knowing him.

When Woojin cracks a particular bad joke he’s not exactly proud of and Jihoon almost chokes on his own food, Woojin thinks the universe really meant it when it managed to make them meet somehow.

 

It’s only on Saturday night that Jihoon finally asks Woojin something that he says he’s been meaning to ask for a while now.

There's two chairs and a table in the balcony of Jihoon’s apartment. When they enter, Jihoon decides to go for the floor instead. He sits down, legs crossed, and looks up at Woojin who's still standing by the door, eyes absentmindedly looking around, taking the small place in. Jihoon waves his hand to grab Woojin's attention and when he looks at him, he pats the space beside him, telling him to come sit.

Woojin nods and comes closer to him, sitting down and stretching his legs in front of him.

They remain silent for a few more minutes, now sitting comfortably, and Jihoon is about to say something. When he turns to Woojin, mouth half open with the words about to be spoken, he realizes the other has his eyes closed, taking in the comfortable silence between them. Jihoon takes the opportunity to look at him now that he can’t see him staring.

No matter how many times Jihoon’s looked at Woojin’s face ever since the first time they saw each other, he realizes it’s become a habit of his to always finds himself in awe at how breathtaking the other is. Tonight, looking at his golden skin showered by the moonlight, his eyelashes creating detailed shades on his cheeks, every curve of his face perfectly defined, Jihoon realizes he’s the most beautiful person he has ever laid his eyes upon.

Jihoon is met by a sudden urge to tell him that. He wants to reach for him, caress his cheeks and tell him exactly that. Tell him that every inch of him is beautiful and that he’d rather stare at him all night than at the stars and the full moon. He’s thankful for the light they provide but underneath it, Woojin turns out to be a much better view.

“What?” Woojin questions when he opens his eyes and catches Jihoon half staring, half spacing out, lost in thoughts “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing,” Jihoon stutters a little, embarrassed to be caught staring. “I was just thinking.”

“Anything worth sharing?” Woojin smiles teasingly and Jihoon thinks this would be the amazing opportunity to tell Woojin all about his feelings, tell him he doesn’t know when he started falling for him but he doesn’t know how to get out of the mess he’s put himself in. It would be a perfect opportunity to get rejected if it was the case and just stop himself from falling even further. But as he looks at Woojin’s intense, expectant gaze on him, he thinks it might be a little too late for precautions.

“Not really,” he says and Woojin doesn’t ask him anything else about it.  


Instead, Woojin just hums in response and after a few seconds, he asks “Can we lay down here?”

“Sure,” Jihoon replies.

Woojin is quicker than him on getting himself comfortable. He lays his body down and stretches his left arm out to the place Jihoon’s head is supposed to lay. Jihoon looks at him questioningly, an eyebrow raised.

“You wanted a pillow the other night, didn’t you? It’s what we have now, just take it.”

Jihoon hesitates for a second but then he lays on Woojin’s arm and they are back at the comfortable silence.

“I have a question,” Jihoon breaks the silence.

“Yes?”

“Why did you write your number on the bathroom wall?”

Woojin laughs at the question, “I lost a bet against Daehwi.”

“Really? What was it?”

“We bet who could eat more slices of pizza. He made it to 6 and I died at 5.”

“Wow, Daehwi’s really impressive.”

“He is. I have a question too.”

“Okay?”

“Did you scratch the number on the wall?”

Woojin is not looking at Jihoon so he can’t see the way his cheeks heat up in embarrassment for being caught. He didn’t think Woojin would come back to look at it anymore, “Yes.” He replies weakly.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s how we met. Maybe I wanted it to be a once in a lifetime thing.”

It is. Not because of how they met, but because they met each other. Woojin never thought this could actually work out and if someone told him this story he would laugh at how pathetic it sounded. But he’s not the one laughing now.  


They fall into silence again.

Jihoon notices Woojin’s right hand laying on his stomach and he fumbles with his right hand for a moment, deciding if he should really do what he was thinking about doing. His mind says fuck it - so he stretches his hand to grab Woojin’s. Part of him is slightly afraid Woojin will just slap his hand away it but he doesn’t.  


And by now Jihoon should’ve known better because Woojin would never push him away. In any way.

They lay there, staring at the night sky, their holding hands laying on Woojin’s tummy and Jihoon thinks he could really get used to the warm feelings coming from Woojin’s hand.

 

Woojin wakes up with an unfamiliar weight on his waist and an uncomfortable feeling on his body caused by sleeping on the floor. He remembers he and Jihoon arranged blankets and pillows by the living room and put a movie for them to watch but Woojin can’t remember a single scene from it, sleeping getting the best of him in no time.

He opens his eyes slowly and realizes the weight on his chest is due to Jihoon’s arm. He’s not exactly hugging him but he has his arm laying there and Woojin doesn’t know what to make of it. He shifts carefully trying not to move too much and he’s now facing a very asleep Jihoon. Without the snarky remarks or the teasing that’s always there, Jihoon’s face looks peaceful, ethereal even. He’s sleeping soundly and Woojin doesn’t have the heart to wake him up. He checks the time on the watch on his wrist - the bomb watch he borrowed from Jihoon weeks ago - and decides he should make them some breakfast since it’s still 10 a.m. He has been crashing on Jihoon’s house since Wednesday so he figures getting some food done is the least he can do.

Woojin is starting to get more familiar with everything in Jihoon’s kitchen so he finds his way around quite easily. He prepares some toasts, makes Jihoon some coffee and then gets some eggs in the fridge for them.

“Wow, you’re making me breakfast?” He’s in the middle of making said eggs when Jihoon voices comes out of nowhere, scaring the hell out of him “How domestic.”

“Right? I’m quite the catch,” Woojin turns around and puts the eggs on the plates he’s placed on the balcony. Jihoon is sitting there and he expects him to have the playful, teasing look on his eyes but he seems very serious. Woojin turns to the fridge to grab himself some juice.

It’s silence between them. Woojin thought Jihoon would have some of his snarky remarks, claiming that Woojin is much less than he claims himself to be or something along this lines. Banter, like they’re used to.

“Woojin?” Jihoon voices sounds as serious as the expression he had on when Woojin last looked.

“Uhm?” He takes his time getting the juice out of the fridge, suddenly scared to look at Jihoon.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure,” Woojin’s heart is beating fast and he convinces himself it’s because Jihoon scared him just moments ago, not due to nervousness.

“I lied,” Jihoon says and this gets Woojin’s attention. He closes the frigse and turns to Jihoon and he’s now standing on Woojin’s side of the balcony, an unreadable expression in his face. Woojin must look confused because Jihoon adds, “Yesterday.”

“What do you mean?” Woojin puts the jar he’s holding on the balcony, just to be safe. He doesn’t want to break anything. He’s scared about where this conversation is going.

“You asked if I was thinking anything worth sharing and I said I wasn’t. I was lying. I think it’s worth it.”

Woojin’s palms are starting to sweat and his mouth is going dry so he has a hard time getting the words out “Ok, just tell me.” He doesn’t know if he sounds impacient but he doesn’t get a lot of time to think about that.

“I like you,” Jihoon says and Woojin thinks his lips are trembling but he can’t be sure, not when he feels like his head is spinning and like his ribcage is about to burst open at any time now, “I think I’ve liked you even before I met you in person. It sounds pathetic, right? To like someone I’ve me through texts, to like someone I’ve never met. But I did. I liked talking to you receiving messages from you was always the best part of my days. It’s always been so easy talking to you. I really liked that.”

“Jihoon,” Woojin tries to interrumpt him but his voice is weak and Jihoon doesn’t let him.

“No, let me finish,” Jihoon pleads and Woojin lets him “Then we met and we started to hang out together and I was so confused. You were the same as you were when we were texting but then I got to see your reactions, the way you smiled at the stupid things I said and the way it sounded even easier than it was before. But on the day of my play... I guess that was it, you know? Because I was doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long, I was playing my first play as the main lead and when I finished I was so happy and so proud of myself. Then as I waited backstage with the cast to go to the stage to greet the audience, all I could think about was your reaction. I wondered if you liked. When I saw you there, smiling and cheering for me, I think it was the happiest moment of my life. When you hugged me backstage later, I realized that was exactly what I wanted. Acting. And you.”

Jihoon stops for a second to catch his breath, “I know it sounds like a lot to take in and maybe you don’t feel the same and that’s ok. You don’t even need to give an answer, I just needed to tell you because-“

“Jihoon,” Woojin tries to interrumpt him.

Jihoon doesn’t seem to listen, “Because I don’t know what else to do with all these feelings so I just really-“

“Jihoon,” he tries again but he’s still not listening. So Woojin reaches for him, puts both of his hands on each of Jihoon’s arm, forcing him to listen to him, to look at him “I like you too.” He says simply. “I’ve liked you for so long and I can’t even tell you how or when it started.”

Jihoon goes quiet for a second and then he smiles and it’s so bright, brighter than any of the smiles he’s seen on his face before and he’s scared he’s going blind if he stares at it for too long, “Really?”

“Yes, you absolute idiot. Of course I like you too,” Jihoon tries to seem offended at his words but he fails, his smile still not leaving his face.

Woojin doesn’t know what else to say, still not as eloquent as he’d wish he was. So he kisses him.

It’s slow, calm at first. He puts his arms around Jihoon’s waist, pulling him closer to him and Jihoon lets him. He puts his arms around Woojin too, a hand on his neck trying to pull him even more though there’s no longer any space between them. With his eyes closed, all Woojin can focus on is the feel of Jihoon’s chapped lips against his own.  


Jihoon deepens the kiss, catching Woojin off guard at first, but he doesn’t hesitate any longer to respond, letting Jihoon’s tongue find its way into his mouth. It tastes sweet but there’s also a strength to it and Woojin can’t help but think it’s exactly like Jihoon himself.

Jihoon’s hand move from his neck to his hair and the feel of his fingers running smoothly is so comforting and right that if Woojin could describe what kissing Jihoon feels like, he’d say it feels a lot like coming home.

It’s 8 pm when the screen of Woojin’s phone lights up with a message. This time, he’s not exactly eager to read it considering the one person he’s always excited to receive a message from now has his head on his lap. Woojin is carressing his fingers absent-mindedly through his hair that is too soft to be real, its sweet scent taking over his senses.

He takes his phone anyway, careful not to move his legs to omuch and bother Jihoon. Not that Jihoon would mind anyway but he’s comfortable and he doesn’t want them to move.

It’s a message from Daehwi.

 **cutiehwi** : hyung where are u  


**chamsae:** im at jihoon’s  


**cutiehwi:** oh  
**cutiehwi:** i’m back!!  
**cutiehwi:** ill bring jinyoung over and come get u  


**chamsae:** ok

Woojin wonders why he’s with Jinyoung. He knows they're both arriving at the dorm but the fact they’re coming from different places makes it seem slightly strange. Woojin doesn’t dwell too much on it.

“Daehwi is back,” he tells Jihoon, “And so is Jinyoung. They’re coming here.”

He wants to know if Jihoon is okay with it, with their friends finding the both of them too close for it not to mean anything. He thinks maybe Jihoon will get up quickly, take his distance from Woojin just so it doesn’t sound suspicious. But he doesn’t.

Instead, he hums in response, just acknowledging what Woojin told him. He takes Woojin’s hand that stopped caressing his hair to text Daehwi and puts it back on his hair, as if telling to continue what he was doing. Woojin chuckles as quietly as he can, resuming to touching Jihoon’s hairs, but he thinks he sees Jihoon smiling too.

 

It takes no more than 10 minutes for Jinyoung and Daehwi to arrive. Jinyoung unlocks the door and screams a happy “We’re here” as they make their way into the living room.  


Daehwi looks at the scene on the couch and he looks shocked if his mouth suddenly taking a "o" shape is anything to go by. He tries to question Woojin with his eyes, pointing for the both of them with his head, and he’s glad Jihoon is not looking at him. Woojin nods quietly and Daehwi’s face is suddenly radiant and he can’t contain his excitement.

“Oh, look like someone has news for us!” he says, coming closer to the couch. He grabs Jinyoung’s hand on his way and Woojin doesn’t fail to notice it, raising an eyebrow. With their interlocked hands and their clearly matching shirts he notices as soon as Jinyoung gets on his line of view, he guesses maybe Jihoon and him are not the only one who finally started dating each other.

“Well, looks like we’re not the only ones,” Jihoon says, making it clear that he noticed it all too.

“Why do you even have matching shirts if you’re coming from different places? And, I mean, how?” Woojin asks.

“We’re both here now, aren’t we?” Daehwi asks and he tightens his grip on Jinyoung’s hand and the taller boy is now just leaning into Daehwi’s tiny figure that is seated on the couch’s arm, smiling brightly like Woojin had never seen him smile “We just talked about it before traveling. It’s a good thing there’s texting and video chats, right?”  
Woojin just smiles. Because, yes, it is a wonderful thing that there’s something like texting.

 

After Jinyoung settles his things on his room, they order pizza. Woojin thinks it’s only fair, since it’s exactly how everything between Jihoon and Woojin started. After eating, he invites them to watch a movie - the same one he and Jihoon both fell asleep watching the night before. They get Jinyoung and Daehwi to sit on the floor because they’re the younger ones and they only half complain, taking the chance to lay close to each other, both of their hands still interlocked like they had never let go and Woojin can’t help but think they’re cute. 

Jihoon and him are on the couch and they get to be a little closer than demeed necessary because the others are definitely not paying any attention to them, too caught up in their own little world. To be honest, Woojin thinks they never actually leave their world. Woojin has both of his arms around Jihoon's waist while the other has his upper body laying against his chest. Jihoon’s head is close to his own and he can smell the sweet scent he’s now start to getting too used to.

Later, when Jihoon turns to face him out of nowhere, taking all of Woojin's attention from the movie, he doesn’t mind that he’s missing the part that’s probably the most important one because Jihoon is leaning in and brushing his lips against his and Woojin thinks maybe it’ll get some time for him to get used to the proximity, to kissing Jihoon whenever he wants to.

But after experiencing texting each other all the time and now getting to experience kissing each other all the time, Woojin is sure he would pick kissing over texting any day.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this is messy and probably a little too rushed.  
> If you took some of your time to read this, thank you so much!!


End file.
